reserving judgement

i love designing with studio calico's kits. a scrapbooking kit club that can wow and impress me every month makes me happy. but this month, i have to admit that when i opened the box for september's kit, cotillion, i was not immediately in love. not sure why, but it just didn't have me oohing and aahing like i usually am. i loved all the basic grey june bug in there, but i had not been drawn to this particular anna griffin line that was included. however, i have learned that april and scarlet are creative geniuses when it comes to putting together kits, so i told myself to reserve judgement until i was done with my assignments.

7 layouts and a card later, i can tell you that i love cotillion. i did a 2 pager, i did multi-photo layouts, i used the MM pins that i never know what to do it. i even used the anna griffin–even the journaling spots, which are hard for me to use, i used 3 of them! yah, me. reserving judgement is a good thing.

this one uses bits and pieces from foxtrot, tango, waltz, and cotillion, all jumbled together in a 2 pager. there's also a little freebie for ordering an add on this month in the second sneak:


i know the dog side of the paper wasn't intented to be the used side, but when i saw this little guy, i knew exactly what i needed to create. this one uses cotillion and waltz
this layout was inspired by a piece of artwork i found while surfing the web. i wasn't quite sure about the silhouette stamps, but when i saw the inspiration piece, i knew exactly how to use the stamps :) i used cotillion and waltz for this one.


this one is a totally redo. the event it's recording was so much fun, and the original design wasn't quite as fun. i think this turned out better. the waltz add on kit includes a vintage WWII token and it was perfect for this layout.


i have tried twice before to scrap this picture. it never would work. and until just a few hours ago, i was ready to put it away again. i knew i wanted to use products x, y, and z, but to get them to work all together was testing my every ability. then it all fell together and life is good.


i went to a crop in early august and was pulling out my kit when i heard a lady say, "don't you just love those kits?" i turned around to discover a fellow SC subscriber, linda. we were both just a little bit excited about meeting each other. she shared with me her system for filing kits, photos, and inspiration. then i got the brilliant idea of taking a photo and scrapping it right then. this is the result. she probably thinks i'm a little nuts :)


the sole card out of the bunch. when i'm stuck creatively, i'll try out a card and that usually helps me get back on track. definitely the case here. this was inspired by a card i saw on etsy, i'll post the inspiration when i post the original. i love looking on etsy, so many ideas that translate into scrapping. i misted the white canvas chipboard letters with the green maya mist. they look almost exactly like the green canvas chipboard letters. oops :) this uses waltz, cotillion, and a little something you can get for free if you order an add on this month... and finally, a layout circa 1991. we were so young! using cotillion and waltz, plus some twine and paint from the store.

i hope you've enjoyed these, i certainly enjoyed making them. i think that studio calico exclusive butterfly paper is in my top 3 favorites. i love how stephen added some font goodness on a page full of butterflies!

kits go on sale to subscribers on the 27th at noon EST. if you're not a subscriber, a limited number will be available twelve hours later, midnight on the 28th. i can pretty much promise you will love this kit. it has been a blast to work with, and i still have a few pictures that need a home.